


Is Love Real?

by localspacelesbian



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Language, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Siblings, i almost cried writing this, therapist friend cyrus, they're in high school
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 12:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19377205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: TJ and Amber's parents announce that they're getting a divorce. Cyrus goes into Therapist Friend Mode.





	Is Love Real?

Cyrus was eating lunch with his friends. He kept looking down at his phone sadly, frowning when he saw that there were no new notifications.

“You ok, Cy?”

Cyrus looked up at Andi and put his phone down. “Yeah, it’s just, TJ still hasn’t texted me back. And he’s not at school today.”

Buffy put her hand on his arm. “I’m sure everything is fine. When was the last time he texted you?”

Cyrus didn’t even have to check his phone to answer her. “Friday, when he said goodnight.” It was Monday now.

Cyrus didn’t miss the concerned looks she and Andi shared. “You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think Amber is at school today either.” Cyrus wasn’t sure if Andi’s words made his anxiety better or worse. “Maybe I should text her and see if she knows anything?” Cyrus nodded. Amber was generally much better than her brother at texting back; she was pretty much constantly on her phone.

“Has she responded?”

“Cyrus, it’s been less than a minute. Be patient.” Andi was still on her phone. “Huh. Ok, this is weird.”

“What?”

“She hasn’t posted anything to Instapic since Friday.”

Everyone at the table shared concerned looks. Amber was on Instapic everyday. “Am I allowed to panic yet?”

Buffy squeezed his arm lightly. “I’m sure everything is fine. Maybe they went somewhere without cell service for the weekend?”

“And didn’t tell anyone?”

Buffy shrugged.

“Would it be weird if I went to their house after school to check on them?”

Andi answered, “No, I don’t think that’s weird. It’s sweet. Just don’t jump to any conclusions before you get there. I’m sure everything is fine.”

Cyrus nodded, trying to feel reassured by her words.

 

Despite his best attempts to listen to Andi and not jump to conclusions, by the time he made it to their house, Cyrus’s mind had run through hundreds of different scenarios about what could be going on with the Kippens, ranging from ‘they transferred schools without telling anyone because they suddenly hate him’ to ‘they’re both dead.’ Cyrus tried not to focus on the latter.

He knocked on the door and waited about a minute before Amber opened it. She did not look like herself. She wasn’t wearing any makeup. She looked like she hadn’t showered. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, both of which Cyrus was pretty sure belonged to TJ. But the thing that really hit Cyrus was that she looked like she had been crying. “Cyrus?” She immediately hugged him, which he didn’t hesitate to reciprocate, despite his growing confusion and concern. She pulled back after a minute. “What are you doing here?”

“You and TJ weren’t at school. I was worried. Are you ok?”

She nodded. “Come on. TJ’s in his room.” Cyrus followed her inside. At least he could check ‘TJ is dead’ off his list of possible explanations for what exactly is going on; although, that only made him feel slightly better, and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t actually believe that TJ was ok until he saw him with his own eyes. When they got closer, Cyrus heard loud music coming from TJ’s room. He didn’t recognize the song, but it didn’t exactly sound happy. Amber knocked on her brother’s door, which surprised Cyrus; she normally just barged right in.

TJ opened the door. He was in similar state to his sister. He didn’t put quite as much effort into his appearance on a daily basis, so the difference with him wasn’t quite as stark, but it was definitely noticeable. He also clearly hadn’t showered in a while, and he didn’t have any gel in his hair, which was a mess. He was wearing his glasses, and he had also clearly been crying. He seemed surprised to see his boyfriend. “Cyrus? What are you doing here?”

Amber answered before Cyrus could. “He was worried about you, dumbass.” She pushed passed her brother and into his room. TJ and Cyrus had no choice but to follow. She sat on the bed, and TJ sat on his desk chair, turning off his music and closing his laptop as he did.

Cyrus stood there awkwardly looking between them. “So, what happened? Are you two ok?”

Amber and TJ gave each other a look, and Amber asked, “Can I tell him?” TJ made a face at his sister that Cyrus couldn’t even begin to comprehend. “Come on. It’s Cyrus. You know he’d understand.”

“Can someone please tell me something? It’s ok if you don’t wanna talk about it, but I’m kind of drowning in anxiety right now.”

TJ sighed and gestured for Amber to go ahead. She sighed. “Our parents are getting a divorce.”

“Oh.” Cyrus walked over and sat on the bed next to her. Of all the hypothetical situations that he had thought of, this was not one of them. Somehow, twenty minutes ago, he had thought it more likely that they had been abducted by aliens. He put his hand over hers. “I’m sorry.” He looked between the two of them. “Do you want to talk about it?”

TJ just shrugged, crossing his arms and putting his feet up on the bed.

Amber took a deep breath. “Part of me isn’t surprised. I mean, they’ve been fighting for years now. But for some reason, it still just…”

She trailed off, so Cryus finished for her. “Doesn’t feel real?” She nodded. “When did you find out?”

“Saturday morning. Literally, first thing in the morning. Like ‘good morning kids. Your father and I are getting a divorce. Who wants breakfast?’ Dad moved out yesterday. We couldn’t stand to be in the house while he was packing, so we spent most of the day at the Rage Cage. I think it helped a little.” She leaned her head on Cyrus’s shoulder, and he put his arm around her. “I just don’t know what to do. How did you deal with your parents’ divorce? Sorry, I know you don’t like to talk about it.”

“It fine.” He sighed. “Honestly, I don’t remember it all very well; I mean I was only seven. I remember they never really fought much; it was mostly just tense silence and passive aggressive comments. Until one day, they did fight. I don’t know what the fight was about; I just remember it was very loud, and I was scared, so I ran away. Somehow I ended up at the park, on the swings.” TJ finally looked up at him then, but he didn’t say anything. “That was the first time I went there to calm down. I guess it helped. I was there for a couple hours I think before Buffy and her parents found me. I stayed the night at her house that night, and when my mom picked me up, she took me to breakfast. That’s when she told me. I still can’t eat blueberry pancakes.” He gave TJ a small smile. “Anyway, the divorce process itself was kind of horrible. I think I’ve repressed most of my memories of it to be honest. I don’t think I could have gotten through it without Sharon.”

“You mean your stepmom Sharon?” Amber asked.

“Yeah, back then she was just my therapist. My parents were very determined to not let their divorce mess me up too badly, so they put me in therapy pretty much immediately. And Sharon was great. I mean, Andi and Buffy helped me a lot too, but they were kids; they didn’t really understand what was going on. I had to testify in court, which I honestly don’t remember at all. I refused to pick a side, so, after months of fighting, they settled on joint custody. Which ended up working out. I think they both did a good job of making their houses feel like home. And then they both got remarried, and while it was definitely weird when my dad first started dating my therapist, it worked out and I’m happy for them. I love my stepparents, and two happy homes is better than one unhappy home, you know?” He shrugged. “So yeah, basically it was a few terrible months that I got through with the help of my friends and a lot of therapy, and then everything worked out in the end.”

Amber gave him a side-hug. “I think that helps actually.”

“Really?”

She nodded, and then she and TJ seemed to have some kind of silent conversation, and she stood up. “I’m going to go order us some food. Do you want to stay for supper?”

Cyrus shrugged. “Do you want me to?”

“Of course we do.”

“Then, yeah sure. I’m good with basically anything.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back.” And with that, she was gone, and the room was silent.

Cyrus looked at TJ, who was looking down it his lap and playing with the strings of his hoodie. “Are you ok?”

TJ nodded and got up, walking over to the bed and taking Amber’s recently vacated spot. He pulled Cyrus in for a hug, resting his head on Cyrus’s shoulder. Cyrus rubbed his back. They stayed like that for a while.

When TJ pulled back, Cyrus asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

TJ looked down again, and after a moment of silence, he spoke. “This probably isn’t what you want to hear from your boyfriend, but I just. If all these marriages keep falling apart, if our parents can fall out of love, then what’s the point? How do you know love is even real? Or that relationships are even worth it? I’m sorry.”

Cyrus put his arm around TJ, and TJ leaned into him. “TJ, you don’t have to apologize. Those are completely reasonable and valid fears. I wondered that too after my parents first told me they were getting a divorce. Seeing them get remarried and how happy they were then helped a little I think, but even then I still had a hard time picturing myself in a relationship. I decided I was never going to get married. I hated anything romantic.” TJ huffed a little laugh at that, and Cyrus smiled. Yeah, it was a little hard to believe that Cyrus Goodman ever hated romance. “And then I realized that at least part of the reason I couldn’t picture myself in a relationship or getting married was because I kept trying to picture myself with a girl. As soon as I realized boys were an option, it was like I suddenly became the hopeless romantic you know and love today.” TJ smiled at him then. Cyrus squeezed his hand. “And just because some relationships don’t work out, doesn’t mean none do. Relationships take work, and if both people aren’t willing to put in that work, they become unhealthy, and sometimes the best thing for everyone involved is for the relationship to end. But if they are willing to put in the work, and they love and care for each other, it’s worth it, no matter how long it lasts. Feelings are complicated, and sometimes they change, but something being temporary doesn’t make it any less real or important.And for what it’s worth, I know that love is real.”

TJ looked at him in confusion. “How?”

Cyrus smiled at him and looked him right in the eyes. “Because I love you.”

“Oh.” TJ seemed surprised, which was fair; they hadn’t actually said that to each other yet, but they had implied it plenty of times, and Cyrus had been thinking about it for a while.

“You don’t have to say it back. I know your emotions are all jumbled right now, with everything that’s going on. I just wanted you to know.”

TJ leaned forward and kissed him. It was short but sweet. They touched their foreheads together. “I love you, too.”

Cyrus smiled and pulled TJ in for another kiss.

After that, they hugged again for a while. After TJ didn’t say anything for a couple minutes, Cyrus asked him, “Hey, TJ?”

“Hm?”

“Did you sleep last night?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re about to fall asleep on me.”

TJ leaned back then. “No, I’m not.” Then, he yawned, disproving his statement. Cyrus raised an eyebrow at him. “Shut up.”

“You should sleep.”

“I’m fine.” Another yawn.

“Come on, muffin.” Cyrus took off TJ’s glasses, putting them on his bedside table, and managed to get him to lay down. They both laid on TJ’s bed, with TJ curled up against Cyrus’s chest and Cyrus’s arms wrapped around him. After only a couple minutes, TJ was snoring lightly. Cyrus smiled and kissed the top of his head.

A few minutes later, Cyrus heard the door open slowly and saw Amber poke her head in the room. “The food’s here.” Cyrus just looked at TJ and then back at Amber. “Come on. He’ll be fine. You need to eat.”

Cyrus whispered, “I can’t move. I don’t want to disturb him; he’s too cute.”

Amber rolled her eyes. “He’s snoring. And drooling on you.” She walked over to him. “It’s fine. He’s a heavy sleeper.” She lifted him up slightly to free Cyrus. When Cyrus got up, she let go of TJ, and he moved slightly. Cyrus was worried he had been woken up, but he just rolled over and pulled a pillow to his chest. Amber grabbed his hand. “Come on.” Cyrus let Amber lead him into the kitchen, turning the light off as they left the room.

They ate in silence for a while before Cyrus asked, “So, how are you doing? I get the feeling you didn’t say everything you felt in front of TJ.”

“Of course not. He’s my baby brother. I have to be strong for him.”

“Being strong doesn’t mean hiding your feelings.”

“I can’t break down in front of him. ‘Cause then he’ll break down, and I can’t handle that.”

Cyrus reached across the table and held her hand. “Well, you can break down in front of me. I promise I won’t tell him.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I might take you up on that.”

They finished eating in silence. Cyrus decided to wait until she was ready to talk. After they were done eating, they went into her bedroom. As soon as the door was closed, she practically collapsed on top of him in a hug. He held her, rubbing her back, while she cried.

When she was done, she grabbed a kleenex from her desk and blew her nose. Then, they sat on her bed, and he waited for her to speak. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m so scared. I don’t want to have to choose between them. I know that if it came down to it, TJ and I wouldn’t choose the same parent, and I don’t want this to come between us. I mean, things just got better between us like a year and a half ago. Ever since we met you. And I don’t want to lose that.”

“Nothing is going to come between you too. Just because your parents couldn’t make their relationship work, doesn’t mean that anything is going to happen with your and TJ’s relationship. I may not know what it’s like to have a sibling, but I know you two. You’re going to be fine.” She nodded. “And you don’t have to choose between your parents. It wouldn’t be fair for them to make you.”

“It feels like they already chose for us. Dad already moved out.”

Cyrus shook his head. “That happened with my parents too. My dad moved out, and I was scared that I wouldn’t get to see him as much anymore, but we were able to make his house just as much a home for me as my mom’s house.”

“I don’t know if my dad’s apartment is ever gonna feel like a home. TJ and I have never lived anywhere other than this house.”

“A home isn’t a place. It’s people. You still love your dad, right? And TJ? And they both love you.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Then, that’s all you need. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded and put his arm around her. She leaned into him. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with your parents, but you have me and TJ and all of our friends. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Thank you.”


End file.
